At A Glance
- Field
- Detail
- Region
- Languedoc-Roussillon, France
- Position
- Southern edge of the Bassin de Thau lagoon
- Estate scale
- 100 hectares total, including 20 hectares planted to Picpoul
- Main grapes
- Picpoul, Piquepoul Noir and Chardonnay
- Signature wine
- Picpoul de Pinet
- Farming
- Organic, non-certified
The Producer
Domaine Reine Juliette is an Alliès family domaine whose wines are 100% estate grown and bottled. Its range includes Picpoul de Pinet, Piquepoul Noir, Chardonnay and IGP Pays d'Oc Rosé.
The estate combines organic farming without certification with cellar work carried out under closely controlled temperatures. Picpoul de Pinet provides the saline white, Piquepoul Noir the floral red, Chardonnay another white wine, and the IGP Pays d'Oc Rosé a fresh rosé style.
Place
The vineyards sit on the southern edge of the Bassin de Thau lagoon, in the southern part of the Pinet appellation. The lagoon is a large inland sea, and cooling sea breezes reach this part of the appellation.
Those maritime winds create conditions for fresh white wine expression. Picpoul de Pinet carries the coastal setting through its saline character and crisp acidity.
Story
Guillaume Alliès and Marion cultivate the vineyard through organic farming without certification. The Alliès keep Picpoul yields deliberately low at 55 hectoliters per hectare, below the regulatory maximum of 60.
A lower crop leaves fewer grapes per hectare. In general wine practice, that can give the must greater concentration, while the farming choice also limits the volume harvested from each hectare.
Vineyards And Cellar
All fruit is destemmed before gentle pneumatic pressing. Destemming removes the stems before pressing, while pneumatic pressing uses controlled air pressure to extract the must gently.
The cellar contains stainless steel vats, a destemmer and a pneumatic press. It is air conditioned and equipped with a temperature control system, allowing fermentation and ageing at precisely controlled temperatures.
Wines
The range includes Picpoul de Pinet, Piquepoul Noir, Chardonnay and IGP Pays d'Oc Rosé. The bottles move across white, red and rosé styles, with each wine using a different cellar treatment.
Picpoul de Pinet ferments in stainless steel and receives short ageing in bottle before release. Piquepoul Noir undergoes traditional maceration for eight days in enamel lined cement tanks. Chardonnay ferments in stainless steel, with a small portion undergoing light oak fermentation and no malolactic fermentation. The rosé ferments in enamel lined cement tanks with freshness as its emphasis.
In The Glass
Picpoul de Pinet is whistle clean and saline, with citrus, green apple and white stone fruit. Saline minerality and crisp, zesty acidity carry the wine to a bone dry finish. The profile recalls sea air and crushed rock, with faint white blossom in the background.
Piquepoul Noir shows floral and red fruit notes with low tannin. Its lighter tannic feel separates it from a deeply structured red and keeps the wine's character on the fruit and floral side.
A Bottle To Understand It
Choose Picpoul de Pinet. It is the estate's Picpoul wine from the Pinet appellation, fermented in stainless steel and given short ageing in bottle before release.
The bottle places one grape and one appellation together under the estate's own name. Chardonnay, Piquepoul Noir and IGP Pays d'Oc Rosé extend the range, while Picpoul de Pinet holds the central white wine position.
Anecdote
In 1985, Guillaume Alliès and his sister Marion inherited the property from their parents. Guillaume and Marion are today the sixth generation of winegrowers cultivating their vineyard. The family sequence runs from parents to two siblings, with the vineyard continuing under the Alliès name.
Final Word
Domaine Reine Juliette joins Picpoul de Pinet with Piquepoul Noir, Chardonnay and IGP Pays d'Oc Rosé, all estate grown and bottled. The southern edge of the Bassin de Thau gives the whites a maritime setting, while the cellar keeps fermentation and ageing under temperature control.